Magdalena Rybarikova, Sabine Lisicki make it to the second round – AEGON Classic 2011
Number fourteen seed Magdalena Rybarikova eased past Emily Webley-Smith of United Kingdom 6-4, 6-3 on Monday to reach the second round of 2011 AEGON Classic in Birmingham. Ranked 69th in the Women’s Tennis Associaiton
rankings, Rybarikova proved a very big challenge for the Brit and she required only 1 hour and 12 minutes dispatching her opponent.
Looking to dominate her opponent in the opening set, the Slovakian tennis-pro made great moves on the court. Coming close to the net every now and then, she put the challenger under extreme pressure. Besides her attacking abilities,
Magdalena Rybarikova had a rock solid defence as well, which let her save certain points against her.
Breaking the serve early in the first set, the Slovakian made a strong start to the match. She executed her game plan to perfection and displayed some high quality tennis to race to a 4-2 lead in the set. Showing her class and
exceptional grass court skills, Rybarikova held on to her serve games to pocket the opener 6-4.
The 22-year-old continued to play with confidence in the second set as well and broke her opponent twice to establish complete control over the contest. Smashing a lovely forehand winner down the line, she set up two match points
for herself and then converted the second one to close out the match.
Rybarikova’s well directed serves proved to be the real difference between the two players at the end of the day as she earned nearly 70 percent of the points on her serve. She also dominated the serve return department by claiming
52 percent of the points at the receiving end. Smith had a weak serve and she struggled to convert her service games. A large number of unforced errors did not help the cause either as she gifted points to her opponent.
Meanwhile German Sabine Lisicki defeated Kimiko Date-Krum of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to book a second round berth at the WTA tournament.
Lisicki started the match on a very positive note and broke her opponent early to take a 3- lead in the opening set. Using the court excellently, she placed her ferocious forehand and backhand winners to perfection. A blistering
serve ace secured the opener for the German tennis-pro as she took the set score lead 1-0.
The second set was played on a more competitive note as both players traded serve breaks to force the set into a tie-breaker. Lisicki, who almost overcame world number Kim Clijsters at 2011 French Open, showed no sign of nerves
and clinched four straight points in the tie-breaker to end the match in straight sets.
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